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List of rulers of Saxony
This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast (or, according to some accounts, Frederick the Wise) onwards have been Lutheran until Augustus II of Saxony converted to Roman Catholicism in order to be elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. His descendants (including all Kings of Saxony) have since been Roman Catholic. Dukes of Saxony and Westphalia.]] The original Duchy of Saxony comprised lands of the Saxon people in the north-western part of present-day Germany, namely, the contemporary German state of Lower Saxony as well as Westphalia and Western Saxony-Anhalt, not corresponding to the modern German state of Saxony. Early dukes *Hadugato (fl. c. 531) *Berthoald (fl. c. 622) *Theoderic (fl. c. 743–744) *Widukind (fl. c. 777–810) *Abo (fl. c. 785–811) Younger Stem Duchy With the removal of the Welfs in 1180, the Duchy of Saxony was sharply reduced in territory. Westphalia fell to the Archbishop of Cologne, while the Duchy of Brunswick remained with the Welfs. The Ascanian Dukes had their base further east, near the Elbe, in what is sometimes called the younger Duchy of Saxony, resulting in the name Saxony moving towards the east. In the 10th century the Emperor Otto I had created the County Palatine of Saxony in the Saale-Unstrut area of southern Saxony. The honour was initially held by a Count of Hessengau, then from the early 11th century by the Counts of Goseck, later by the Counts of Sommerschenburg, and still later by the Landgraves of Thuringia. When the Wettin landgraves succeeded to the Electorate of Saxony, the two positions merged. The Younger Saxony: The Duchy and the Electorate used since the accession of the House of Ascania to the dukedom in 1180, comprising the Ascanian arms with an added bendwise crancelin indicating the Saxon ducal rank]] The new dukes replaced the Saxon horse emblem ( ) and introduced their Ascanian family colours and emblem ( ) added by a bendwise crancelin, symbolising the Saxon ducal crown, as new coat-of-arms of Saxony ( ). The later rulers of the House of Wettin adopted the Ascanian coat-of-arms. After the division, the counting of the dukes started anew. Though the first Ascanian duke is counted either as Bernard III (because of two predecessors of the same name before 1180) or as Bernard I, his successor, Albert I is counted as the first, although before 1180 he had one predecessor of the same name, Albert the Bear. House of Ascania Partitions of Saxony under Ascanian rule Table of rulers (Note: Both lines follow the numbering established in this table until 1296, when they were created. From 1296 on, each line follows independently the succession of Saxon dukes until 1296) The male line of the Saxe-Lauenburgish Ascanians was extinguished in 1689, after Julius Francis' death. In spite of having left two daughters to inherit the rights to the duchy, the House of Welf usurped the duchy, preventing the succession of the legitimate heiress, Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, and resucceeded with its Brunswick and Lunenburg-Celle line. In fact, George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg was a great-great-grandson of Magnus I through his great-grandmother Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. His descendants became Monarchs of Great Britain from 1714 on. In 1814, after being deposed by various occupations in the Napoleonic Wars, George III's son, Regent George agreed to pass Saxe-Lauenburg to his Danish cousin in a general territorial realignment at the Congress of Vienna. This cousin was Frederick VI of Denmark, who changed the official colours of Saxe-Lauenburg to red and gold. The duchy changed hands again when, in 1865, Christian IX of Denmark was deposed in Second Schleswig War and resigned by Treaty of Vienna; Saxe-Lauenburg passed to William I of Prussia, to whom the Estates of Saxe-Lauenburg offered the ducal throne. The coat-of-arms of Saxe-Lauenburg was changed to the colours red and silver, with a border in the Prussian colours of black and white. Both duke and estates decided to merge Saxe-Lauenburg into Prussia, as district Duchy of Lauenburg, with effect from 1 July 1876. House of Wettin The Ascanian line of Saxe-Wittenberg became extinct with the death of Elector Albert III in 1422, whereafter Emperor Sigismund bestowed the country and electoral dignity upon Margrave Frederick IV of Meissen, who had been a loyal supporter in the Hussite Wars. Late Albert's Ascanian relative Duke Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg protested in vain. Frederick, now one of the seven Prince-electors, was a member of the House of Wettin, which since 1089 had ruled over the adjacent Margraviate of Meissen up the Elbe river, established under Emperor Otto I in 965, and since 1242 also over the Landgraviate of Thuringia. Thus, in 1423, Saxe-Wittenberg, the Margraviate of Meissen and Thuringia were united under one ruler, and the unified territory . gradually received the name of (Upper) Saxony (or simply Saxony). Partitions of Saxony under Wettin rule Table of rulers (Note: Here the numbering of the princes is the same for all principalities, as all were titled Dukes of Saxony, despite of the different parts of land and its particular numbering of the rulers. The princes are numbered following Ascanian Saxe-Wittenberg line (their predecessors) and by the year of their succession.) Kingdom of Saxony The Holy Roman Empire came to an end in 1806. The Elector of Saxony, allied to Napoleon I, anticipated its dissolution by becoming the ruler of an independent Kingdom of Saxony in 1806. Heads of the House of Wettin since 1918 The lineage of the House of Wettin is extant, although the family no longer exercises an official role in Saxony. For heads of republican Saxony, see List of Ministers-President of Saxony. *King Frederick Augustus III, 1918–1932. *Margrave Friedrich Christian, 1932–1968. *Margrave Maria Emanuel, 1968–2012. *:Margrave Albert, 2012 (disputed). *:Margrave Alexander, since 2012 (disputed). *:Margrave Rüdiger, since 2012 (disputed). *:Prince Michael of Saxe-Weimar (b 15 November 1946) since 2012 (disputed (since the death of his own father in 1988, Prince Michael has been the most senior agnate of the House of Wettin). See also *House of Wettin *Line of succession to the former Saxon thrones *History of Saxony *Coat of arms of Saxony References External links * House Laws of the Kingdom of Saxony Category:Saxon monarchs Saxony Saxon rulers Saxon dukes